Undisclosed Desires
by Lunn Lady of Angst
Summary: Set after the events on Alcatraz island, Mina thinks she's moving on with her life. But after one eventful Mardi Gras, she begins to realize that she's still rooted firmly in the past. Can one man help her move on?


**Disclaimer:** I do not own X-Men or any of its affiliates. I did, however, create the character of Mina/Silverfox (no relation to Wolvie's dead girlfriend, by the way), and my friend Leigh created the characters of Jaklyn and Silence. Other than that, I don't own the characters. This is in no particular universe. For background of what happens between this story and "Beautiful Liar", my last story, you'll have to read the two stories, Illusive Rhapsody and Intoxication (in progress), by The Batchild. I'll allude to it, but for the full effect, check it out.

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**Chapter 1: New Orleans Is Sinking**

"Silence, would you _please_ put your shirt back on?"

Silence giggled and kept running down Bourbon Street, Warren and her friends running behind her. Warren was the one with the more innocent sensitivities, but Silence didn't care; she was drunk and it was Mardi Gras. She was getting beads. Lots of beads.

Maybe running wasn't quite the most accurate term for what Silence was doing down the road, but it was as close an approximation as her drunken self would get to. In fact, her two best friends weren't doing much better. Jaklyn and Mina were hanging off each other trying to follow her – anyone watching the pair might think they were involved in some sort of contorted three legged race. Warren was leading the chase, and Piotr, Jaki's boyfriend, was bringing up the rear.

Finally spotting a bar she thought was appropriate, Silence led the motley crew through its doors and headed straight for the bartenders. Mina followed, ordering herself a vodka and bar lime. She plopped herself down on the nearest stool and watched the festivities. Jaki had decided to attach herself to Piotr's face, which Piotr didn't seem too bothered by. Warren was attempting to wrestle Silence back into her shirt, which didn't seem to be going well. Silence kept zipping around the room as she spotted people who would give her beads. She was on a mission. Mina giggled to herself, then downed her vodka concoction and ordered another one.

For Mina, this was a very welcome vacation. She had been working at the mansion, taking a year off before hitting the books and heading to university. She also needed to spend some time doing something to take her mind off the struggle of the past couple of years. She had lost some people very close to her, not to mention risked annihilation at the hands of Dark Phoenix. Working to help train young mutants at the mansion was very good stress relief because not only did it allow her to take out her pent up anger and frustration, but she felt like she was making a difference. However, drinking a lot in New Orleans during Mardi Gras was also great stress relief. Very, very good stress relief.

Picking up her drink, Mina sauntered over to where Silence and Jaki were sitting, giggling at each other. "What's so funny?" she asked, sitting herself down in between them and draping herself over both their shoulders.

Jaki giggled into her rum and coke and Silence pointed across the room at the back of someone sitting at a table. "It's not funny, it's _him_!" she explained.

"Him who?"

"That sexy thing playing cards," Jaki managed to slur out.

Mina straightened up and took a better look at the back of the man's head. He had a very nice head, and was playing cards surrounded by a group of girls. Hunkering back down into the girl huddle, Mina leaned over and took a sip of whatever Silence was drinking through the tiny straw that Silence was ignoring. "Should I go talk to him?" she pondered.

"Duh!" the other two responded in sync. Silence followed up with, "You're the only one of us who _can_, dorkus. We're both attached. And we can't let _that_ thing go." She emphasized her point by stabbing a finger in the direction of the table the man was sitting at.

Mina shared a conspiratorial smirk with the two girls. She straightened up again and then did her very best graceful saunter over to the man's table. Pulling up a chair beside him, she applauded Jaki and Silence's taste. The card shark was, as far as she could put it, "smokin". His skin was a polished tan, and his cheekbones were just the right kind of sculpted that made Mina want to run her fingers along them. And his eyes – his eyes were very mysterious. Not to mention he was wearing a fedora that topped off his whole look like a cherry on a sundae. Mina decided she quite liked this guy.

She peered over his shoulder at his hand, then, as nonchalantly as she could manage, asked, "What game are you playing?"

He looked up at her from his hand and flashed her a grin. "Poker. À la Remy le Beau. And who might you be, _ma cherie_?"

Mina smirked. "Mina Felisin. _Very_ pleased to meet you, Remy." She took another sip from her drink, somewhere in the back of her mind realizing that she'd probably had far too much to drink, then leaned in closer to Remy, getting a better look at his hand. Putting her drink down on the table, she picked the queen of hearts out and asked, with a bit more air in her voice than she usually permitted, "Play with hearts often?" She twirled the card at him.

Remy chuckled and took the card back. "Not _too_ often, I assure you, _ma cherie_." He took her glass from her after she drank down the rest of it. "Anything I could get for you, _ma petite_?"

Mina smirked and took the glass back, setting it haphazardly back down on the table. She leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Oh, there's something you can get me, but not at the bar."

Remy emitted a laugh deep in his throat that Mina found pleasing deep in abdomen. As she leaned back from his ear, he caught her by the back of her head and landed a solid kiss on her lips. "I'd be happy to," he whispered in her ear. "Care to come with me? My place is not far."

Mina leaned back at him and looked deep into his eyes… and smirked. "Of course I'll come with you." They got up and walked out of the bar together, Mina waving at Jaki and Silence as she walked out the door.

As Mina left the bar with Remy, Silence and Jaki giggled conspiratorially to each other. They had been trying to get Mina to have fun for a while. They had been worried about her ever since the incident on Alcatraz. She wasn't exactly unhappy, per se, but she wasn't as positive and upbeat as she used to be. Getting her drunk at Mardi Gras was, to the two girls, the perfect antidote to her rainy mood cloud.

High-fiving each other, they drained down the last of their drinks and stumbled over to their men to finish the night in style.

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**A/N**: The song in the chapter title is 'New Orleans Is Sinking' by The Tragically Hip, an awesome Canadian band. I really don't think the lyrics have anything to do with the chapter as a whole, other than it's _in_ New Orleans. Aren't I clever?

Also, the chapters are probably going to be rather short. As a general rule. Sorry if that's annoying.


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